Small business owner Madison Tucker began her student career at OU as a ballet performance major before finding her way to Gaylord. After an injury at the end of her freshman year forced her to alter her lifestyle, she searched for another major that she could be passionate about. What she found was Public Relations.

Starting later than usual in the Gaylord game, Madison was forced to take on a heavier workload. This did not stop her from signing up for almost every opportunity in Gaylord, including participating in PRSSA and Lindsey + Asp.

After graduating in 2014, Madison landed a job as a customer success manager at an oil and gas technology company. She knew nothing about oil and gas, and the position had nothing to do with PR.

However, she views her experience at this company as a valuable opportunity in which she learned many life and work skills that she could continue to apply in future careers. That is what she did and continues to do so.

Her next job was at a Pinterest and Instagram marketing platform. It was during her time here that she realized she wanted to start her own business.

After briefly returning to the realm of oil and gas to do admin work at a firm, she launched her small business named Optimal Life Space. Her company focuses on helping businesses and people organize and declutter their life spaces at work, home and elsewhere.

She explains how she never envisioned having her own business and did not know what all it entailed when she started.

“It’s definitely been a crazy ride,” said Madison.

While her career may be centered around organization, her daily schedule is not. She describes her work days as “unorganized,” “off-the-cuff” and as a daily attempt at “figuring out how to run a small business.”

“My title never included ‘PR’. I’ve never worked at an agency, but every single thing I do every day requires PR," said Madison. As a result of running a small business, Madison has to tackle a wide range of tasks, including networking, marketing, creating and scheduling social content, accounting, bookkeeping and more.

Madison emphasizes the value of social media and learning how to communicate with people on different platforms. She explains how she is constantly working on using social media to connect with her audience, sell her services and create a broader brand moving forward.

Madison attributes her career success to the information she learned during her time at Gaylord. “OU introduced the topics, and I have been able to practice those," she said.

The tips that have proven beneficial to Madison’s success are: “Don’t apply for positions solely online,” and “say yes to every opportunity.” She suggests that all current Gaylord students and job seekers adhere to these guidelines to get the most out of their journey in the world of journalism and mass communication.

“You need to be passionate about what you’re doing. You’re signing up for a long period of time, so you need to like it just as much as they like you.”

For more information about Madison Tucker and Optimal Life Space, you can visit:

Website: optimallife.space.

Instagram: at “optimallife.space”.

If you are interested in running a small business or have questions about what life is like as a PR major, Madison is open to talking with you. You can contact her at madison@optimallife.space.

On January 24, Brian Ferrell came to our meeting to speak about his journey in creating his company, factor110.

factor110 is all about "factoring in the difference."

Brian started his company a little over 10 years ago. He worked for a few different companies before getting his CMP certification (Certified Meeting Professional). He had to study a lot before he got this certification because he had no knowledge of the industry beforehand.

While he was studying to get his CMP certification, he added the term DMC to his vocabulary. DMC stands for Destination Management Company and is a firm that manages and plans out-of-town event services.

He then decided to create his company, which has grown into three different parts: factor110, 110events and Destination Oklahoma. Brian's company is the only DMC in Oklahoma, so they have the upper-hand.

factor110 plans and produces events for companies. These events include trade shows, award shows, company dinners and much, much more! Based on what Brian shared with us, it seems like the people that work for this company have produced some really cool, different events.

When it comes to events, Brian had a few pieces of advice for us:

Events are an extension of your brand.

The success or failure of your event is dependent upon the attendees experience.

Be different. Be confident. Be authentic.

Create a unique signature event. Instead of doing a lot of things not well, create something that is signature.

110events is a rental company that the public can rent things from for their events. Brides, caterers, hotels and many more people will rent items for their event that they can't get anywhere else.

Lastly, Destination Oklahoma is a company that gives daily tours around Oklahoma to connect people to the attractions and stories around Oklahoma. They also began sell Oklahoma inspired gifts after Brian realized that people who visited Oklahoma wanted to be able to buy gifts that are unique to the state.

We had a great time learning about Brian's company. Learning his tips and tricks in the event planning industry made for a great meeting!

Last week at our general meeting, we had Kristin Sauro come speak to us about Burson-Marsteller, a global PR and communications firm. Kristin works in the New York office as a Human Resources Associate. She mentioned part of her job is recruiting at schools just like ours, attending career fairs nationally and coordinating the communication between the company and applicants for jobs or internships.

Sauro started off the meeting with a large and intricate PowerPoint that highlights everything about Burson-Marsteller. She talked about the company’s history, the company culture, and the main focus of the company brands. Burson-Marsteller works on several nationally known brands such as Ford, Chipolte and Bank of America.

Another great part of working for Burson-Marsteller is that they are known for their crisis management. They have specific classes for their interns to learn about crisis communications as well as many other components of the industry.

Burson-Marsteller is unique in that they have three companies that work alongside them in their offices worldwide that specialize in different expertise. These companies are known for client business guidance, government and politics as well as grassroots. Along with agencies that work underneath Burson-Marsteller, they have “sister” agencies that are constantly working together with the BM team to tackle a client’s problem or proposal.

In order to intern with Burson-Marsteller, you must be going into your senior year, graduating or going into grad school, with a GPA of 3.2 or higher. You will also have to send in a transcript when you apply for a position with them or internship. From what I gathered, the internship program is for the most elite applicants, as the application process is difficult and they choose only a few applicants every summer, fall and spring. You must also have very strong interpersonal, communication and research skills.

It was so wonderful hearing about such an esteemed public relations company, and Kristin gave the insight to several pointers and tips in order to be successful at the company. Kristin was very informative and helpful, as she also gave personal one-on-one sessions to students for three hours before the meeting so they could answer questions in private. We were so thankful to have her come speak to us as a group, and we are very much looking forward to having the next speaker come the Tuesday after Thanksgiving!

At the beginning of this month, a group of our members took a trip to Chicago, Illinois to visit a seven agencies and meet with alumni.

Our agency trips give members the opportunity to travel to big cities around the country and see what agency life would be like in the respective cities. Past trips have included Chicago, New York City and Dallas.

For this trip, members visited Propllr, Ketchum, Edelman, Allison + Partners, Motion PR, the Chicago Cubs Communications Director and Walker Sands. The members also attended a dinner with OU alumni living in Chicago. They got the opportunity to talk to Sooners about their experiences in The Windy City.

One of our members, Demery Pennington, wrote an amazing blog post about her experience on the trip, what she learned from some of the agencies and the fun sights she got to visit while on her free days in Chicago.

This week at our OU PRSSA meeting we had the wonderful Chloe Cumbie and Kylie Kallsen talk to us about BigWing in downtown Oklahoma City. They chose to discuss the various clients that BigWing has and define how the company helps benefit them. Cumbie and Kallsen also spent time discussing their work environment and why BigWIng would be wonderful place to work at for any senior or even junior at Gaylord College. This stands for both internships and future careers.

BigWing happens to be the biggest digital media marketing firm and is one of the largest agency in the state and is owned by the Oklahoma Media Company. Cumbie and Kallsen mentioned that their company focuses on their client’s online presence. They drive traffic towards their client’s online platforms and anticipate gaining numerous benefits from it. They have been awarded Google partner and are also known as one of the top five digital agencies in North America for the 2016 year.

BigWing does most of their work by a method that they like to call content marketing. They take the content from what the client is willing to portray and go forward with that on various online formats. This is the majority of what their job entails. They have numerous clients that they work with daily that allow for them to have a large amount of variety with their work. The number of clients that they tend to work with begins with a few and then continues to increase depending on their capabilities of what each worker can handle. They even mentioned that the people at the company tend to rely on each other’s strong suits so that they can gain knowledge from them and increase their own expertise. The agency works as a team and keeps from competing with each other relying instead on building one another up.

Cumbie and Kallsen then went on to discuss the various forms of content that they produce as a company and what forms of content they have worked on individually. Typically, in their work environment they tend to create content that differentiates their clients from their competitors as well as allows them to take the next step to five their business to the client. They also mentioned that not only are content marketers creators but they are also researchers. It is their job to determine how they are going to disseminate the created content and spread it to others.

Next, we were informed on the methods that we learn that the company uses in the workplace. Cumbie and Kallsen stated that not only is SEO research used, but client specific goals are applied to focus and fine tune the content to fit their personal client’s needs. They tend to use traditional PR in content marketing through press releases, media relations, community outreach and crisis management skills. They also mentioned that writing is the basis of most of their media through social media and press releases and that it is something we, as college students, should work towards perfecting. A proficiency in social media was also mentioned as beneficial due to social media’s current standing as a legitimate way to contact and connect or network with people. The world is now becoming immensely social media based in how we communicate. They listed various examples to highlight this as well such as influencers, engaging with audiences through online surveys and polls and even communicating to various consumers though these social media platforms.

We feel so lucky to have had two incredibly successful OU Alums be able to join us for this week’s PRSSA meeting. They not only educated us on how an agency functions, but also passed on some knowledge on what skills helped them to prosper. We gained so much wonderful wisdom from them and we cannot thank them enough for taking out the time to come and mentor us as a group! Thank you so much to Chloe and Kylie! OU PRSSA is immensely grateful to have you to guide our members and wish you two much success in your future endeavors!

On October 10 we had Matt Woods from McMahon come by and share his personal tips for getting internships. He explained that while applying online allows for easy access nationwide a con that we don’t account for is only eight out of ten jobs are posted online. Even though we feel we have the upper-hand when sending out our resumes through the various online job search engines, the truth is we honestly don’t.

Woods went on to explain his three pillars to successfully stand out amongst your peers. The three pillars are as follows:

1) Develop Irresistible skills.

2) Hack the hiring system.

3) Build a three-circle network.

He made sure to discuss each of these in as much detail as he could manage.

When discussing the first pillar, Woods mentioned that to highlight your irresistible skills it would be beneficial to talk about your skills and achievements over focusing on your certifications. He even went as far as to mention that you could even pre-plan a pitch to the company by creating your own mock posts to display your knowledge rather than simply walking into an interview with just a resume. The most helpful concept is to show that you can do the work rather than to talk about what you can do. Show don’t tell. Another concept that Woods mentioned was to build a T-shaped experience. T-shaped is when you can show that you have a variety of schools and are just a specialist it shows that you have more capability than your peers.

When it came to the second pillar, Woods mentioned that it would be best to tweak your resume each time you submit it to a future job prospect. This simple technique of changing the skills and experience on your resume to cater to the job you would like to have will give you an edge over others applying for the same position. He also mentioned a concept called the unicorn card. The unicorn card is a concept that highlight what it is about you that allows for you to be unique and memorable. It needs to be the one thing that you do that no one else thinks about doing. Two other tips he had were to make sure to endlessly follow up with companies for a job position and to get internal referrals to advertise your application from inside the company. These will also tip the scales in your favor when it came to the hiring decision.

For the last and final pillar, he mentioned that you needed to build a three-circle network. It would start with your inner circle which comprised of your role models and mentors and have it grow naturally from there. The second circle consisted of a professional network. This could comprise of a list of 10-30 people who are better at networking than you. The third and final circle consisted of the crowd. A good way to approach the crowd could be through social media posts or keeping up with a blog. It was at this point that Woods unfortunately ran out of time to add any more detail to emphasize his third and final, however he did mention that if you went to his website and added your name to his e-mail list he would send constant updates and tips through e-mail. This presentation would be available to you through that as well.

OU PRSSA is so thankful for Matt Woods to come out and talk to our members! He was an immensely eloquent speaker while managing to remain relatable and comedic throughout his presentation. We all enjoyed him so much that we even requested for him to continue when he mentioned that he was running out of time to present. Hopefully, these tips will help you with your internships as well! We will see you again at our next meeting on October 24, 2017! Until then, take care!

On September 20, a group of our PRSSA chapter's members attended the PRSA OKC luncheon to network with professionals and listen to a speech by Robert Sheldon.

Robert Sheldon has been in PRSA for more than 40 years and has a BA in journalism from the University of Minnesota. He spoke to all of the luncheon attendees about ethics in the PR industry.

Sheldon talked about what PR plays a key role in, including maintaining a few flow of ideas, reading and sustaining markets, helping a democratic society function and earning trust in business and government BUT there is still a deep distrust of PR. Although PRSA created the Code of Ethics in 1950 to counteract public distrust of PR and business, the distrust is still there and is being made worse due to the "fake news" claims.

Overall trust in government organizations, businesses, media, and NGOs has declined. An example Sheldon gave was that we are "getting some version of the truth or alternative facts from government spokespeople." Sheldon continued by telling us "the truth doesn't have versions."

Proper PR is supposed to increase public trust. Our job as PR professionals is to make sure that what we are doing, writing and saying every day adheres to the ethical standards in the PRSA Code of Ethics and that our client or employer is also conducting its business in the public interest in accordance with high ethical standards.

Now you're probably wondering why it is important to be ethical! Sheldon stated that it is important "because the reputation, success and even survival of the organization or client you represent can depend on what you do/say and how you do/say it each and every day."

To be able to follow the PRSA Code of Ethics, you first need to know the core values.

Advocacy

Honesty

Expertise

Independence

Loyalty

Second, you should know the Ethical Principles of Conduct.

Free flow of information

Competition

Disclosure of Information

Safeguarding Confidences

Conflicts of Interest

Enhancing the Profession

To conclude the luncheon, Sheldon gave us a list of the "Top Ten Rules for Conducting Ethical PR."

Know the difference between fact and opinion.

Be loyal to your client, but act in the public interest.

Write as if three people are looking over your shoulder: your client's competitor, a news editor and your mother.

Never send out a finished product until it has been critically reviewed by at least three very picky people.

Bad news doesn't keep. Get it out, explain it and move on.

Acknowledge what you borrow by attribution or permission.

Emails, tweets and Internet postings are forever. Act accordingly.

You're always "on the record." If you don't want to be quoted saying something you might regret, don't say it.

When in doubt, sticking to the absolute truth works best.

Always take the high road. You're in charge of your own integrity.

Our chapter's members are very grateful to have been invited to visit the PRSA OKC luncheon. We met some amazing professionals and had a great time!

Our first guest speaker, Savannah Jung, recently graduated from OU and is now working for Saxum in Houston. She took some time out of her evening to chat with our chapter about the importance of networking and gave us lots of tips that will benefit us in the professional world.

Savannah is a member of the PRSA Houston chapter as well as the Houston Young Professional group. She is involved in these groups because she knows for a fact that networking never stop. You should continue to join groups after you graduate.

One point she made about PRSSA is "you get out what you put into PRSSA." You should take everything you do a step further and keep getting involved in as much as possible. Our PRSSA chapter gives you tons of opportunities to get involved so take those opportunities and you'll get way more out of the organization than just showing up for meetings.

Here are some other tips that will benefit you in your professional work:

Always do your research. You should research companies you are going to talk to as well as the specific people. If you are going to a luncheon, research the people that are going so you know a little bit about them. You don't want to go into anything blind.

Make business cards and always keep them on you. It is important to have something to give to people you meet so they remember you and have your information. You don't want to meet someone who may give you an internship and have no way to give them your contact information.

Look at an interview as a dialogue instead of an interview. This will calm your nerves a little and let you be able to act like yourself.

Follow up after an interview. This way the interviewer will be reminded of you and you can thank them for the opportunity.

Savannah's favorite class in Gaylord was Crisis Communications because she thought it was cool to learn how to handle the worst case scenarios in the agency world. She said this class is beneficial even if you aren't interested in working specifically with crises because crises can happen in any industry. This class will help prepare you for the chaos. Savannah specifically said "agency life is controlled chaos."

We have really appreciated having Savannah speak at our meeting and give us insight on the professional working world!

If you would like to connect with Savannah Jung, email her at savannah.jung29@gmail.com and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Guest post by Hannah Franklin, Inclusion and Diversity committee member

Have you been on Twitter lately? Have you talked to your grandma on the phone, or maybe turned on the local news? If you have, then you know Donald Trump has a problem with the media, or “dishonest media.” Whether your answer to any conversation over politics begins with an “R,” a “D” or a “no comment,” as public relations young professionals, we must diligently watch how our role in the media and how media’s role in the U.S. is going through some changes. Will Trump’s administration set a new tone for politics and media or has the tone already been set? Most importantly for us, what is the best way for public relations young professionals to adapt to this new media environment?

I recently dove into a few articles that addressed the expected shift in media. One of those articles came from a website called “The Capitol Communicator.” The article zeroed in on how communications in the Washington, D.C. area will change over the course of the next few years. One of the more obvious changes predicted more Republican-minded communicators will be in demand as is typical when parties switch control. Other media shifts the article discussed included focused messaging and integrated digital campaigns, both of which were used heavily in this year’s election.

As a public relations young professional who's focused a lot on the social media realm of the industry, it's clear to see that political communication, and all communication, frankly, will be incorporating digital methods to reach greater audiences in a shorter amount of time. Digital presidential campaigns were first seen with Barack Obama's 2008 election and was heavily seen in the 2016 race.

My thoughts on this integration? The way social media is evolving and integrating itself into various forms of communication is changing rapidly, and it's never going to stop being interesting and conversation-starting. This works to the advantage of digital campaigns because it calls people to start or continue conversations about those campaigns, thus making numerous people aware of said campaign and politician. But how do D.C. communicators, digital and traditional alike, think about how to adapt to digital campaigns and one of its most frequent users being in the White House?

Al Jackson from EVP Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. offered great insight into how communicators will adapt during this time in the media industry:

There are some big lessons here for public affairs practitioners, not the least of which is the distrust of Washington embodied by the Trump movement. Indeed, voters demonstrated a distrust of government institutions that likely extends to private companies in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. It’s something we’ve got to keep in mind as we develop programs for our clients. Additionally, the Trump team had a completely different approach to this campaign and this election than everyone else did. We can’t just stick with what has worked in the past — to be successful we’ve got to look at things differently.

I never gave that much thought to what happens to D.C. communication when a new president takes office, but it’s one of the most intriguing times in communications throughout the entire nation. Communicators around the United States and even globally are impacted with the national change in leadership, and this time of leadership has already proven to keep communicators on their toes.

Top Jobs is this weekend! So get excited because this time next week you could have a internship or job lined up if you play your cards right.

If you are still unsure about attending Top Jobs this year here are 5 reasons to register today.

1. Endless networking opportunities

First of all, attending Top Jobs regardless if you are a freshman or a senior, gives you a competitive advantage over other students who did not attend. Lindsey + Asp brings in representatives from top public relations, advertising, media and digital agencies from across the nation to meet with you! You can sign up for one-on-one interviews and attend break-out sessions with employers you are interested in. Even if you aren't currently seeking a job or internship you will have the chance to build your professional network and hopefully make a meaningful connection that could open more opportunities for you in the future.

2. Polish your interviewing skills

You will have numerous opportunities to practice and perfect your interviewing skills at Top Jobs. Whether you schedule one-on-one interviews with representatives or ask questions at informational break-out session you will be polishing your communication skills that will be key to landing your dream job.

3. Build your professional portfolio

Having a well-rounded and professional portfolio (whether digital or physical) is an asset in the media industry. A portfolio will help set you apart from the competition when you are applying for internships or jobs. Top Jobs gives you a platform to showcase your portfolio to representatives. So get those creative juices flowing and design a amazing portfolio that reflects your personal brand.

4. Learn more about industry trends and companies

With a diversity of employers attending Top Jobs this year you are sure to have options. There are 20+ agencies attending. Take the opportunity to explore different sectors of the media industry and maybe you will find your perfect fit.

5. And finally fingers crossed you will make a connection and land your dream internship or job

gif source: giphy.com/suits

Go register for Top Jobs today. It will be well worth the investment.

Here is the registration link if you are interested: (you will need to copy and paste the link, sorry)